Protesters Shut Down McDonald’s HQ – And They’ll Be Back on Thursday

It’s unclear yet if groups demonstrating for higher pay for fast-food workers are gaining ground in the national debate over minimum wages. But they’ve certainly managed to cause headaches for McDonald’s Corp.

On Wednesday the world’s largest restaurant chain closed one of its headquarters buildings in Oakbrook, Ill. and asked employees there to work from home in response to protests. McDonald’s kept four other buildings on its campus open, but the closed building houses about 2,000 of the headquarters’ 3,200 employees. The Oak Brook Police Department said it arrested about 100 demonstrators for criminal trespassing after they marched on to McDonald’s campus.

The latest protests, timed to coincide with McDonald’s annual investor meeting on Thursday, are part of a campaign that has escalated over the past two years, and that has focused heavily on the Golden Arches because of its size. Fast-food workers and activists are demanding that minimum pay to be roughly doubled to $15 an hour, and that McDonald’s workers be able to form a union.

McDonald’s has been preparing in recent weeks for intensified protests, though publicly its executives have tried to deflect the politically charged issue.

“This is clearly an important issue that goes beyond McDonald’s,” spokeswoman Heidi Barker said in an e-mailed statement, reiterating that almost all of its 14,000 U.S. locations are run by franchise operators who set the wages for their employees. “The wage discussion varies widely by area of the country, as does the cost of living—there is no ‘one size fits all.’”

Almost half of the Americans who earned the federal minimum wage of $7.25, or less, per hour last year worked in food service, The Wall Street Journal’s Eric Morath reported on Wednesday. Many company executives say raising wages would either cripple their businesses or force them to raise prices on consumers, he writes. But others that are known for the higher wages, like Whole Foods Market Inc. or Costco Wholesale Corp., argue higher wages attract better workers.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would reduce employment by 500,000, but would pull 900,000 people out of poverty.

Since November 2012, fast-food workers backed by the Service Employees International Union have organized various protests in front of McDonald’s and other chains such as KFC in more than 100 cities.

Ms. Barker said McDonald’s opted to close the building on Wednesday after consulting with Oak Brook police, because they feared the demonstration would disrupt traffic. The building sits at a major thoroughfare across from a tollway entrance and a popular shopping mall.

McDonald’s still plans to have its shareholder meeting there Thursday morning, Ms. Barker said. Protest organizers say they’ll be back too, bright and early.

Comments (3 of 3)

if these people need money so badly why aren't they working instead of protesting.

3:42 pm May 22, 2014

Joseph Morningstar wrote:

Sad .... for these people... I discovered sexual content on a McDonalds food bag.... called McDonalds Corp office and was hung up on twice....I ask if they would recall the food bags .... see attached you tube video ....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlqcxl7tHJ8&sns=em